Comparative outcomes of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and manual phacoemusification: a six-month follow-up.

BACKGROUND

To explore efficacy and safety outcomes in patients undergoing femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) versus manual phacoemulsification cataract surgery (PCS).

DESIGN

Prospective consecutive nonrandomized comparative cohort study.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 124 eyes from 106 patients (70 in FLACS and 54 in PCS).

METHODS

Comparison of FLACS with PCS over 6 months.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Macular central subfield thickness (CST), cube volume (CV), cube average thickness (CAT), endothelial cell density (ECD), central corneal thickness (CCT) and photon count value (PCV).

RESULTS

CST, CV and CAT increased postoperatively, which did not return to preoperative levels by 6 months. The values were similar between groups throughout the follow-up, and comparison of changes from baseline also showed no significant difference. Preoperative ECD showed significant difference, which decreased postoperatively and remained stable during follow-up, being lowest at 1 month. FLACS had greater endothelial cell loss than PCS, which was not significant. CCT in both groups increased, reaching maximum on day one and tended to decrease thereafter. No significant differences were found regarding postoperative values and the mean increase. In both groups, mean PCV increased from preoperatively to day one, week one and month one. Flare values in FLACS were lower than PCS, reaching statistical significance at 6 months (P = 0.001). However, the differences in changes of PCV were not significantly different at any visit.

CONCLUSIONS

Both FLACS and PCS achieved similar safety and efficacy outcomes for performing cataract surgery. Flare values in eyes with FLACS were lower than those with PCS at 6 months postoperatively.